Information regarding population status and abundance of rare species plays a key role in resource management decisions. Ideally, data should be collected using statistically sound sampling methods, but by their very nature, rare or elusive species pose a difficult sampling challenge.
Sampling Rare or Elusive Species describes the latest sampling designs and survey methods for reliably estimating occupancy, abundance, and other population parameters of rare, elusive, or otherwise hard-to-detect plants and animals. It offers a mixture of theory and application, with actual examples from terrestrial, aquatic, and marine habitats around the world.
Sampling Rare or Elusive Species is the first volume devoted entirely to this topic and provides natural resource professionals with a suite of innovative approaches to gathering population status and trend data. It represents an invaluable reference for natural resource professionals around the world, including fish and wildlife biologists, ecologists, biometricians, natural resource managers, and all others whose work or research involves rare or elusive species.
"After reading this book, you will have a good appreciation of general difficulties associated with monitoring rare species but also many ideas to accomplish the task.... Overall, I highly recommend this book. It is well written and informative; the authors should be credited for synthesizing very relevant information for a sub-discipline in great need of credible methodology. For the wildlife ecologist tasked with monitoring rare or elusive species, but uncertain how, this book serves as an essential step to achieve success. For students or professionals interested in the science of rare and elusive species, consider this a must-read. For those afraid of another book full of equations, don't be; Thompson and coauthors, though no doubt capable of writing technical jargon, did a fantastic job funneling their knowledge into a very readable, informative and, dare I say, enjoyable book on sampling." "The contributors include some of the best quantitative thinkers in biology, and the book chapters are well written, thoughtfully organized, and very informative...An essential addition to the libraries of scientists and practitioners in wildlife biology."---Byron K. Williams, chief, USGS Cooperative Research Units
